Addazio Dedicated To Giving BC Football The Jolt It Needs

Steve Addazio's mind-set walking into the job at Boston College in December was that everything was on the table.

It had to be.

The Eagles' football program had won a total of six games in the previous two seasons under Frank Spaziani, including a 2-10 season in 2012 that eventually sent Spaziani (21-29, four seasons) packing. The tradition-rich program was losing recruiting battles to neighboring nemesis UConn.

BC, more than anything, needed a jolt. And the always overly enthusiastic Addazio, if anything, is passionate, energetic and, yes, can provide a jolt.

"So, for example, if social media wasn't a big part of my life in recruiting, well now it's going to be," Addazio said. "Why? Because it's there. We're on Instagram. We're on Vine. We're on Twitter. I'm pushing myself to the max level because I want to make sure that everyone here understands this is a revolution. We're going to change it. We're all going after this recruiting thing because we've got to create some electricity around the program through recruiting but also through relationships, through alumni. You've got to fight your way into becoming embedded into that Saturday afternoon deal."

And that is something Boston College has struggled to do since quarterback Matt Ryan went to the NFL as the third overall pick in 2008.

Addazio, 54, the former Florida assistant who left there to become the head coach at Temple, where he was 13-11 in two seasons, now has much more pressure. He's coaching in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Farmington native and Central Connecticut State grad was the architect of a 34-game winning streak when he coached at Cheshire High (1988-94). He was an assistant coach at Syracuse under current UConn coach and Cheshire native Paul Pasqualoni, then an assistant at Notre Dame. He was an assistant coach and an assistant head coach at Florida, where he was a part of two BCS national championships in 2006 and '08.

He also recruited and coached Bristol native and former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, who is facing a murder charge. It was an issue, not surprisingly, Addazio did not want to delve into. "You know, I really don't know where all of that is," Addazio said. "I haven't spoken to him in a few years. I'm just wishing the best for him."

Addazio turned Temple into a nine-game winner his first season there in 2011, and fell to 4-7 in the Owls' first season back in the Big East in 2012.

"I'm proud to be a Connecticut guy and so that goes without saying," Addazio said. "I was always hoping one day Connecticut would have Division I football and they did, but I am absolutely thrilled to be here," Addazio said. "This is a place, when I was at Central Connecticut, me and my buddies used to drive up and watch the Holy Cross-BC game every year. Growing up I always viewed Boston College as the program in the Northeast.

"As a Northeast guy, all the Northeast schools are appealing to you, but BC had extra appeal. A couple things here: First off, my wife and I are both Catholic and the faith component here was important to us. That was really important. And obviously being in the ACC was hugely important and moreso every day with what's gone on with the Big East and all that. I'm an hour and 20 minutes from Connecticut. I have a house on the Cape. I'm an hour and 15 minutes from there.

"The other thing is, when I was at Notre Dame I enjoyed being around guys where the education is important to them. This is a place where it's hard to get in and when you're here, the guys really, really have to work hard in the classroom, and I really wanted to be around those kind of student-athletes because it's usually a guy who is really committed to his academics ... very motivated, committed in every piece of their lives. That was important. You go down the list and check off things that are important to you and your family and this was that place.

"And since I've been here, I love it more every day. I love it. We've got a big job ahead of us, though."

Addazio and the new regime have to recruit harder and better, and the Eagles have 20 commitments for the Class of 2014 already. Only N.C. State (22) and Texas (21) have more.

The impact of Addazio has already been felt.

"Our staff is working at this at a fever pace," Addazio said. "The good news is what fires me up is when people come here, you can sell this place and people can see why it's special. The work that has to be done can be done. ... What we have to do is recruit, recruit, recruit, and then we have to recruit, recruit and recruit some more. We've got to bring all kinds of passion and enthusiasm because this place has all of that. It's beautiful. It's prestigious, we're in a great conference, and we've got to bring all of that to the table."